Camera Issues

[MeSeany]

I gave my Orion 80cf triplet its first outing tonight - and try to capture photos of Jupiter.

Not a great start since I could not focus anything with my eyepieces - took me a little while to realise that I had to extend the focal train since the presumption was id have fitted a diagonal.

So I solved this by adding a barlow without the lens - enabling me to observe jupiter with my eyepieces - all very pleasing but the images weren't as good as those on my 8" newt.

I wasn't bothered about the 2nd price re observing since I want to take photos but when I tried my 3 cameras - dslr, qhy5 ii and Philips i could not grab a sharp image.

I was taking shots from my friends velux window which I believe may have suffered from thermal issues affecting my seeing and hence inability to take a super sharp image.

Does this ring true?

I'll try my next hit in my garden with the orion but im worried that I wont be able to grab super sharp jupiter pictures. I tried with my 8" newt which wobbled the Barlow image of Jupiter.

Ive seen great images of Jupiter with the Philips web cam and other web cams but this planet eludes me.

Being a newbie id appreciate some advice

[jambouk]

Aperture; The light gathering of the two scopes is very different; 80mm for the new one, 200mm for the newt, several hundred percent difference. Things always look clearer when they are brighter, so i'm not surprised there is a difference.

Magnification (maximum); the reduced aperture will mean you can expect to use the same magnification, using say an eye piece which gives you 200x magnification on the newt may be ok, but using 200x on the refractor may just guve you a bigger image but with less sharp wuality (though you need to experiment as the optics are very different in the two scopes).

Focal length; the longer focal length of the newt will result in a smaller field of view, and frame jupiter better.

Seeing; i've no idea where you are, but atmospheric seeing may have been awful when you used the new scope.

Local seeing and transparency; looking through a window is a no-no. Looking out of an open window isn't much better as the hot air gushing theough the window to the outside will cause local turbulance around the scope, and there will be currents within the scope i'm sure so you didn't give it its best shot.

Barlow; using a barlow does effectively increase the focal length of the set up, but at the cost of reducing the amount of light getting to your eye, and also introducing some distortion/aberrations. This goes back to the focal length point, having a naturally longer focal length is better for planetary observing, and the newt has a longer natural focal length than the refractor. And, not all barlows are the same, some are better than others.

Dark adaptation; if you were indoors i suspect your eyes weren't dark adapted, again this would be resolved by setting up in the datk and giving your eyes chance to prepare.

Telescope; short tube (short focal length) refractors are not the work horse of the planetary observer, though many people whonown them use them to have a look at the planets.

So i think you should wait until you can set up outside, let the kit and your eyes adapt to the dark and temperature and pick a night when the atmospheeric seeing is good, then try again.

James

[lensman57]

I gave my Orion 80cf triplet its first outing tonight - and try to capture photos of Jupiter.

Not a great start since I could not focus anything with my eyepieces - took me a little while to realise that I had to extend the focal train since the presumption was id have fitted a diagonal.

So I solved this by adding a barlow without the lens - enabling me to observe jupiter with my eyepieces - all very pleasing but the images weren't as good as those on my 8" newt.

I wasn't bothered about the 2nd price re observing since I want to take photos but when I tried my 3 cameras - dslr, qhy5 ii and Philips i could not grab a sharp image.

I was taking shots from my friends velux window which I believe may have suffered from thermal issues affecting my seeing and hence inability to take a super sharp image.

Does this ring true?

I'll try my next hit in my garden with the orion but im worried that I wont be able to grab super sharp jupiter pictures. I tried with my 8" newt which wobbled the Barlow image of Jupiter.

Ive seen great images of Jupiter with the Philips web cam and other web cams but this planet eludes me.

Being a newbie id appreciate some advice

You are doing everything wrong here. Imaging or observing through a window is a no go. The turbulence of the hot air exiting the window and the cold air coming in will make imaging impossible plus the fact that your scope is on shaky grounds and the slightest movement of yours or your friend will vibrate the mount and make the image unstable. Your 80 mm should be used with extension tubes to reach focus and TBH it is not the best choice for planetary imaging, it is more suited to widefield imaging with a suitable FF/FR.

A.G

[MeSeany]

Thank you both for the input - ive learnt my lesson.

I do usually go outside with my newt - ive captured jupiter on my qhy5 ii and phlips nc900 but neither was great since the scope wobbles in even a slight breeze.

Ive just read an article re eyepiece projection which sounds a winner re quality and magnification.

If you know where I can source a 1.25" to eyepiece tube id appreciate it.

[Ags]

Also worth noting is that resolution is proportional to aperture, so the ED80 has less than half the resolution of the newt. For planetary imagingimaging (tiny, detailed targets), resolution is critical...

[MeSeany]

Also worth noting is that resolution is proportional to aperture, so the ED80 has less than half the resolution of the newt. For planetary imagingimaging (tiny, detailed targets), resolution is critical...

But my newt wobbles like hell in even a slight breeze any tips - buy a shed lol

[knobby]

Beach wind brake ...

[keithatrochdale]

Use the tripod at its lowest height may help.

[MeSeany]

Beach wind brake ...

Grea idea -

[kalasinman]

Hanging a brick or two, exercise weight, whatever in a bag from the EP tray of the tripod will help . Yes a lower set-up too.

[happy-kat]

Fill the tripod legs with sand

[lensman57]

But my newt wobbles like hell in even a slight breeze any tips - buy a shed lol

With regret an EQ5 is at the limit of its stability with a 200p. To be honest an NEQ6 is the proper mount for this bulky scope. As for the wind there is not a lot that you could do but try and shield the scope somehow. A few nights ago I had problems with the strong gusts and my WO Star71 on an HEQ5 Pro. Some of the subs do show the effect of the wind catching the tiny scope on the mount.

A.G